Mage or Wizard
by UnillaDellaLuna
Summary: After being given to an older relative of the Evans family by Petunia, Harry's who life changes and it brings out a question: is he to be a Mage or Wizard? To become embroiled in the insular Wizarding world and be their "Savior" or to stay in the Mundane and embrace a far older heritage then his father's family could ever boast?
1. Chapter 1: Roanoke Books

Summary: After being given to an older relative by Petunia, Harry is given a choice; to be a Mage or Wizard? To become embroiled in the insular Wizarding world or to stay in the Mundane?

Warnings: Mild violence, mention of child abuse, mentions of Dursley abuse (does this require a warning?). Minor foul language due to OC's mouths. Don't own anything but Manya.

A/n: The OC Manya Corvinus is an alias to one of my characters from an original works of mine, please don't use her. Beta'd by the lovely Jen, with input from the gang at CaerAzkaban.

Chapter 1: Roanoke Books

Pier Street, Craven,

Kent, England;

12:00pm BST,

October 6th, 1988:

A young boy panted as he leaned against an old fashioned lamp-post, his eyes frantically searched the busy street for any signs of his pursuers as he gasped for breath.

'I never thought Vernon would encourage the pig and rat, in plain view of "normal" people, to chase me around this town while Petunia gets fitted for a new dress! That's _really_ 'normal' Vernon!' passed through the child's mind as he fought to breathe normally.

"There he is Piers, get'im!" Was suddenly bellowed from behind the boy, causing him to spin around and groan at the sight of his blonde, overly fat, pig-in-a-wig cousin Dudley Dursley and his rat-like minion Piers Polkiss.

"Damn it!" Slipped past his lips as he shoved off from the lamp-post and yet again ploughed headlong into the crowded walkway at a dead run.

'All of this _JUST_to get a stupid ice-cream? When are those two twits going to tire of this? They've been after me for thirty minutes, a new record for those two; they rarely chase me past fifteen!' were his thoughts as he weaved through the shoppers desperately searching storefronts for a refuge from his two tormenters.

'Why do the Dursley's hate me so much, what the Hell did I ever do to them, other than being born anyway!'

The child chanced a look back behind himself, only to miss seeing the broken paver in his path; it caused him to trip and fall onto his hands and knees. He cursed, using every term his uncle had ever uttered in front of him, as he pulled himself to his feet with a wince. Looking as he rose, the boy let out a relieved sigh; two buildings down was a sign that read "Roanoke Books est. 1804."

'Huzzah! A bookstore, those two idiots would never be caught dead in one and hopefully no one will kick me out, like the other store owners have,' ran through his thoughts as he bolted down the street; slowing as he neared so as not to enter the store at a run, and hoping to God that the two twits missed his entering the shop.

Roanoke Books,

No.12 Pier Street, Craven,

Kent, England;

12:15pm BST,

October 6th, 1988:

The lad blinked at the sudden shift in light and looked around the shops entranceway only to blink again in shock at what he saw.

'I thought the sign said "Roanoke _Books_", this looks like that cafe in town that Petunia likes to go to and gossip,' thought the lad as he muttered "Sorry" and sidestepped out of the doorway, allowing a well dressed, bad-dye-job blonde and her teenage daughter to leave, and ignoring the woman's sniff at his dusty and slightly torn second hand clothes. 'You try getting chased through town and see how well you look lady.'

He slowly walked deeper into the shop and away from the large bay windows, 'Don't want Dudley or Piers catching sight of me, the two twits just might come in if they see me. If this is a bookstore, where are the books?'

With a look of confusion on his face the boy looked around at the tables full of people sipping drinks and eating cakes, pastries and little sandwiches and at the older girl and even older man behind the counter selling the stuff, well, until on his right he saw a sign hanging from an open archway that read "Children's Books." And with a shrug of his overly thin shoulders the boy headed through the archway. 'I'll read until four I guess.'

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

The nineteen year old looking girl behind the counter brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she watched the cafe and bookstore patrons, bored out of her mind, 'Why the hell am I doing this again? Oh right, I _thought_ it would keep be "busy", more like keep me bored.'

Humming "Ride of the Valkyries" as she wiped down the counter she looked up at the door and watched as a messy dark haired boy of around eight years old walked in, only to force down a growl when a bottle blonde and her daughter nearly ran the kid over.

'Stuck up, wanta be high class bitch, kid's a little mussed and she acts like he is some street urchin out to pick her pocket, idiot!' passed through the young woman's mind as she rolled her eyes at the stupidity some people show. Watching the kid as he walked deeper into the shop and looked around with a confused expression on his young- thin face, as if searching for someone or something, she blinked in shock at the fact that the boy was _glowing_ to her sight.

'Now there's an oddity for you; he can't be more than eight years old tops and he is already manifesting power, that's strange even for the wand-waving idiots... I love a puzzle,' happily percolated through her mind as she continued to watch the boy as he entered the children's section and left her line of sight.

She turned to an older looking male who was behind the counter with her and silently watched him for a second as he took an order, taking in the grey that was starting to pepper his sable hair and fu manchu, the scar that ran through his left eyebrow and the laugh lines around his pale blue eyes, 'Poor Toby, he may look good for a fifty-eight year old but his age is starting to catch up with him... not that it's stopped his crush on me or his hyper attitude at times.'

With her lips twitching into a faint smile she walked over to him and tapped him on his shoulder. Once he turned to look at her she tipped her head towards the children's section as she told him, "Watch the counter for a bit Toby; I've got a few things I need to go check up on. If you think you need help call Kegan out of the shelves, he needs to do some real work and not just hide among the books anyway."

Having given Toby his orders Manya headed for the children's section without a second glance at the man.

Roanoke Books,

12:20pm BST,

Children's Section:

The lad walked through the archway and stared at the rows of floor to ceiling shelves FULL of books, 'This is the children's section? There are more books here than in the Little Whinging Public Library!' passed through his mind as he walked through the aisles, taking pains to stay away from the large front windows, he glanced through the titles as he passed, searching for something to kill time with. He caught sight of a shelf full of the "Chronicles of Narnia" books and grabbed a copy of the second book, 'I've started to read it at the library, maybe I can finish reading it here.'

The lad turned to his left and saw an area bare of shelves but full of large comfortable looking red leather chairs, two couches and a couple of side tables. 'Perfect, it's out of sight of the windows but I can see a clock from that chair... and the doorway to boot' he thought as he walked over and curled up in one of the large, VERY comfortable chairs and flipped open the book. "Now where was I last time?"

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

The girl passed through the archway and as she walked through the shelves she caught sight of the boy who had grabbed her attention. He was reading a book in one of the large chairs set in each section for that use. She watched him for a minute from the shadows of the shelves, taking in his slouched form; the lad appeared to be around seven, eight tops, due to the markers she could clearly see in his aura, making him short for his age, with inky black very messy hair which was in need of a trim, cheap looking black framed glasses, and pale skin that hinted at Celtic ancestors. He had long fingers and was wearing dusty, battered clothes as if he had recently been in a fight and a pair of beat up sneakers with scuffed toes.

'So the clothes scream one of three things: One, his family is from a poorer class than usually seen in this part of Craven. And that begs the question; why is he in this part of town? Two; he is dressed in play clothes, though why a parent would bring him in that type of outfit to this shopping district is beyond me. Three; the kid was just in a fight. Now which of the three is it and why is he manifesting power this early?'

She slowly slipped out of the shadows and walked towards the boy and as she walked over she took note of his quick glances towards the clock on the far wall in between him reading pages of the book and the faint but definitely there brown and purple glow residing just over the surface of his skin. 'Now there is an odd combination, brown usually stands for steadiness and endurance and purple symbolizes wind, spirit, power and protection, how... interesting'

'How interesting, as far as I know I'm the only Magus in history to manifest signs of Anima before the age of nine, even those born or grabbed by the inbred, unintelligent, backward, wand-waving plebs don't manifest any earlier than that' quickly passed through her mind as she, unnoticed, slipped into the chair across from him and watched him for a second before she talked to him. 'Who is this little glow ball?'

"Hello, aren't you a bit young to be left alone?"

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

"Hello, aren't you a bit young to be left alone?" Came from in front of the boy and caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. "Damn!" Popped out of him before he caught himself as he dropped the book. As it slipped off of his lap the lad attempted to grab it, only to blink as a pale long fingered hand, nails an odd blood red, reached out and caught it before he could barely move a muscle.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," came from in front of him as he looked up at the person who was now holding the book; sitting across from him, leaning out of her chair, was the pretty older girl from behind the front counter, who, the lad _thought,_ looked to be around nineteen and had pale odd silverly skin, _really_ dark black hair with **blue** tinting, it was held back in a loose braid, her eyes were a creepy silver, and she was dressed in a black tank-top, black jeans and what the boy thought were jungle combat boots.

"Here you go short stuff." Came from the girl as she handed the boy back the book with a smile that showed her really white teeth and a set of what looked like fangs, the lad uttered a quick "hello" as he took back the book and looked down at his shoes as he realized that he had been staring at her.

"I meant what I said kid, you are a bit young to be running around on your own, so where are your parents?" Asked the girl as the lad shifted in his seat, not quite sure if he should answer or bolt; after Vernon had yelled and hit the boy the last time the man had found out that the boy had **talked** to someone, the lad was leery of talking to any adult, especially as the last time he had informed a teacher of his cousin Dudley chasing him and about Vernon hitting him, he had been beaten by Vernon after the teacher had talked to the man, _now_ the teachers viewed the boy as a liar due to believing Vernon's tales. So the boy looked up to say some lie and bolt, but instead he looked into the girl's silver eyes and started to babble, 'What the hell?'

"My parents are dead and Aunt Petunia told me to find something to do until four," tumbled out before the lad could think or stop himself, "and Uncle Vernon told Dudley and Piers to chase me around the pier and if they caught me he'd take them for ice-cream, but I saw this shop and knew the two wouldn't enter so I thought I could hide here until four and please don't throw me out lady!" The boy stopped to take a breath after the babble and clamped his hands over his mouth in horror at what he had just said, 'Vernon is going to **_KILL _**me if he hears about what I just said!'

The girl watched him for a second with an unreadable look in her eyes before looking out the barely see-through-able window, "I'm going to guess the piggish looking boy and his rat like shadow are Dudley and Piers?" she asked, nodding towards the window. The boy turned to look but slouched down when he caught sight of the two boys lurking outside the window, seemly searching for something, he muttered a swift "yes" as he scrunched down farther in the chair.

The girl sighed as she looked the boy in his eyes, leaving the lad with the feeling that she was reading his mind. With a faint frown she blinked and the lad turned his face back toward his trainers. He looked up at the sound of the chair she was in shifting and cringed back expecting to be called a liar and told to leave, but instead the girl looked at him and asked, "You got a name kid?"

The boy softly answered while watching the girl warily "Harry, miss."

"Alright Harry, call me Manya, not "miss", and the guys behind the counter in the cafe are Toby, he's the one with his hair in a ponytail, and the other is Kegan, his hair is cut kinda short. The fellow running the book store's main counter who looks like he poured bleach over his head is Stephen, if you need anything let them know and I'll make sure you know when it's close to four, alright?"

Harry looked at Manya in shock and seeing her standing there giving him a questioning look he realized she was waiting for him to answer, so he rapidly nodded his head and stuttered out, "Ok." He was totally surprised that he was not being kicked out. Manya nodded and walked out Harry's line of sight and he went back to reading the book in his lap, 'That was odd, nice, but odd.' was Harry's last thought for quite some time.

12:32pm BST,

Cafe:

Manya sighed as she walked back into the cafe, her thoughts totally focused on the green eyed, familiar looking kid still sitting in the children's section reading; 'Probably shouldn't have spelled the kid like that, I sure didn't expect that ramble from him, poor kid, he's more than likely had _that_ bottled up for a while.'

She frowned faintly as she silently weaved through the tables heading for the counter, 'Something about that boy is nagging at my senses and it isn't the fact that no eight year old should glow like he does! But what the hell is it?'

Manya's frown deepened as she slipped behind the counter, still attempting to figure out why the kid was tugging at her senses like he was, it's as if she should know him. She blinked in surprise when it came to her, 'That's it; the kid is a mini green-eyed version of Matthew and smells a lot like him as well! But whose kid is he? Annabelle moved to the US with that pilot so he can't be their kid, Johnny did get married to that nice Emily girl, they had two kids, girls both if I remember right; forgot their names though some flower names, he could be one of theirs. Oh well I'll remember at some point, it probably isn't important anyway, and it's highly unlikely that I'll see the kid again.'

Roanoke Books,

3:35pm BST,

Children's Section:

"Hey kid, it's close to four," Was said only three feet from Harry, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin... again... 'She likes to sneak up on people doesn't she,' ran through Harry's mind as he looked up to see Manya standing there with a crooked smile on her lips, "You said your Aunt wanted you back by four, right?" the raven haired girl asked with her head cocked to the right questioningly.

Harry nodded and slipped out of the chair, closing the book he had just finished, the third Narnia book, and handing it over to Manya as he headed out of the book section of the shop. As he walked out of the store Harry wondered if he would ever be back there again. 'Manya doesn't seem too bad for an adult. Hope Dudley and Piers aren't around." Were the boy's last thoughts as he left.


	2. Chapter 2: Relative?

Chapter 2: Relative?

Roanoke Books, Craven,

Kent, England;

12:00pm BST,

October 13th, 1988:

Harry blinked at the change in light as he entered the café half of the store and headed straight for the children's section, looking around half hoping to catch sight of Manya, 'Wonder if that nice lady is here today, I know she won't kick me out.'

The boy smiled as he caught sight of her walking though the shelves straightening books and making notations on a clipboard. She was dressed in similar clothes to last week, with the only difference being a green tank-top instead of black.

'Why am I happy to see her? I don't usually trust or like _anyone._'He shrugged off his thoughts and walked over to her, not really dwelling on the why for the moment. He might have been smart for his age but the boy was _only_ eight years old and still desperately wanted to trust _someone_, even if he had started to believe that he could trust _no one._ Harry grinned as he attempted to walk sneakily up to Manya and then reached out to tug on the hem of her shirt. 'Maybe I'll surprise _her_ this time around.'

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

'I really need to hire someone to do this so I don't have to be here. This is just as boring as the _last _time I took "time-off"; I'm a fighter, why the HELL am I running a fracken bookstore slash café? Shoulda gone to Rome with Soren and Gabriel, not let Toby and Kegan talk me into coming here; England is so _damn_ _boring_ these days! Heck I'd prefer the bombs from the ruddy Blitz to the boredom!'

Manya continued to mentally grumble to herself as she took stock of the shelves, 'Screw this, the whole damn thing is Toby's baby, still haven't figured out how he talked Kegan into it the damn highlander HATES being in England, _HE_ can run the fracken thing I'm grabbing the next flight to Australia; sun and surf sounds good for this "incarnation". Now that's a vacation, not running a stupid store!'

While silently nodding to herself at her decision Manya caught movement out of the corner of her left eye as she scented something tantalizingly familiar, 'Well, well, it seems I was wrong about seeing the little glow ball again.' passed through her thoughts as she twisted her head just enough to get a clear view of Harry but not enough to alert him to her having seen him.

'Ahh, how cute he's trying to sneak up on me… badly but the kid is _trying_. Hmm, how should I play this?'

Humming softly to herself she kept taking stock and watched him from the corner of her eye as he attempted to "stalk" her, when he reached for the hem of her shirt Manya reached back with her right hand and grabbed his wrist just before he made contact.

"Nice try short stuff, but you'll have to do better than _that_ to sneak up on me." Humor laced her tone and she turned to look at the now blushing child, "'Ello Harry, didn't expect to see you again."

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

Harry yelped when Manya's hand grabbed his right wrist just before he could even _touch_ her shirt, 'Darn it!' At her words he turned a light shade of red and gave Manya an embarrassed smile. "Aunt Petunia forgot shoes to go with her dress and _just had_ to buy the shoes from a shop _here_."

"Oh really, does she know where you are?" Manya questioned Harry as she released his wrist and watched the blushing boy.

"Uhuh, she asked where I hid last time we were here and I told her about the store and she told me to wait here until she comes and gets me." Harry bobbed his head in affirmation as he answered her while vaguely wondering why he was telling her so much, and why she _even_ asked, a set of thoughts echoed unknowingly by Manya herself.

Manya nodded lightly still watching the kid as he squirmed under her silver eyed stare. The corners of her lips twitched up in a slight smile when his stomach gave a loud growl. "Hungry huh, have you eaten lunch yet short stuff?" Her smile deepened as Harry glared at the short comment and his blushed turned a darker red.

"I haven't eaten but Aunt Petunia didn't give me any money so I can't get anything. Anyway she'll get mad if I order anything and she has to pay for it when she gets here." He scowled and looked down at his shoes when Manya frowned at his answer.

"Never mind what your Aunt did or didn't do," Manya commented, annoyance at his Aunt clearly heard in her tone of voice, as she tugged him around by the shoulder as she passed him, "I'll feed you, no charge, you're too skinny as it is, skipping a meal won't help."

Café

12:20pm BST

Harry shifted around on the bar stool at the corner table were Manya had placed him, 'Why is she being so _nice_? _No one_is nice to me, not even Aunt Petunia and she isn't as bad as Vernon; I'll take being ignored over the way he treats me any day… especially since he was fired, it has made him a _LOT_ worse.' Harry shuddered at his thoughts and carefully rubbed his bruised shoulder, 'What does she want, everyone wants _something_ when they act nice, so what does she want?'

Unaware of Harry's suspicious thoughts Manya walked over to the table with a tray laden with two glasses, one full of lemonade and the other with coke and a plate holding two sandwiches. With a humor filled look at the fidgeting boy she set the tray down and shoved it at him after taking the glass of coke and sitting opposite to Harry. "Eat kid."

Harry watched her for a second before reaching for what appeared to be a roast beef sandwich cut into quarters and slowly took a wedge; half expecting her to snag it back much like his so called Uncle and cousin often did when his Aunt wasn't either there or watching them. Harry quickly ate the quarter in one bite and reach for another, only to jump in surprise when Manya laid her hand across his wrist with a frown on her lips.

'Figures she'd be like the others, one quarter and that's it… now what will she do; yell like Petunia or hit me like Vernon?'

"Don't bolt the food short stuff, it'll make you ill." Was all she said to him as she removed her hand and took a sip of her soda while leaning back in the chair and watched him. Flicking his eyes between Manya and the plate, Harry reached for another quarter again, the wary look in his eyes prompted Manya to speak, "Eat it kid, it's not going anywhere."

Still watching the woman who was greatly confusing him Harry ate slowly, still half expecting the plate to disappear or to be yelled at. 'Huh guess she _isn't_ like my relatives!'

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

Manya leaned back calmly in the chair, balancing it on only its back two legs and sipped her coke while watching as the boy slowly ate the two sandwiches. 'This isn't good, the kid acts like he barely gets to eat and as if _someone_ routinely takes his food from him. If his "Aunt Petunia" is who I think she is we are going to be having a _long_ talk, one she may not come out of whole.'

Noticing that he had nearly finished the food Manya rose from the chair and headed for the counter. 'Kids these days like chocolate chip cookies right?' Shrugging her shoulders she grabbed two of Kegan's _famous_ double chocolate chip cookies, wrapped them in a couple of napkins and turned around to go back to the table, 'Whatever, it's sugar, I've yet to meet a kid that doesn't like sweet stuff.'

Heading over to the table she took note of the horse faced woman who had just entered the café and had zeroed in on Harry. Slowing her pace to watch their interaction Manya silently contemplated the woman, 'Yep that's Petunia Dursley nee Evans; no one else could look like a cross between a horse and a giraffe with a stick up its ass and sucking lemons.'

-oOoOo-oOoOo-

Harry happily finished off the last sandwich wedge. '_Two whole sandwiches_, this is the first time this week I've been _full_. At least Mrs. Figg feeds me, even if Petunia barely does; Petunia and Vernon think all I need is crumbs and would probably stop sending me over if they knew that she gives me _real_ food.' He looked up and realized that Manya had left, wondering where she had gone he looked around the café only to groan at the sight of his pinched faced Aunt stalking angrily towards him.

"Boy how much have you cost me you little… I did not give you permission to buy _anything_!" Petunia Dursley ground out between her clinched teeth to her unwanted, to her, nephew. Harry slouched down in his chair unsure how to answer the irate woman and flinched back when she reached out to grab him, only to sigh in relief at the sight of the woman walking up behind his Aunt.

Petunia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a familiar and much feared voice coming from behind her. "Seeing as I'm the one who fed him and I _OWN_ the place; then the food is on the house and _cost_ _you nothing_ Petunia."

Petunia slowly turned with her trademark scowl firmly in place hoping to God that it wasn't Her, only to pale at the sight of the gothicly dressed pale, raven winged and silver eyed young looking woman standing in front of her. "C..cous..sin Ma..anya, when did you return to England?"

"Not that it's your business, but I moved back three months ago. Now my _Dear_ why don't you explain to me _why_ I was informed that little Harry had died with his parents when it's obvious that he is still among the living? And why he seems to be _afraid_ of you, his _Aunt_?" Manya's tone was perfectly polite and calm but had anyone who knew the often fiery woman looked in to her eyes they would have quickly realized that she was beyond angry.

"U..uh..hh." Was Petunia's articulate response to her "cousin's" question as her pale blue eyes rapidly flickered around the crowded café, it was obvious that she had no desire to answer that loaded question in front of the café patrons, with those that were close by attempting to listen in. Seeing her reaction Manya huffed in annoyance, "Conceited, social climbing, twit." was muttered too low for any human to hear, though oddly Harry's lips twitched into a small smile as if the boy had heard her, before Manya glared at Petunia while handing Harry the two cookies.

"These are for you short stuff, as for _you_ Petunia; it seems we need to have a _long_ talk. You have two choices; either in the back of the store here and now or somewhere of your choice tomorrow, since I _know_ you'd rather not have me either show up at your house nor come to mine."

Petunia shuddered at the thought of her neighbors seeing her "cousin" and of attempting to explain her to her precious Vernon and Dudley, something she had avoided since marrying the man. "No please, not at my house." she whimpered.

"Then pick here, or somewhere else, because we _will_ be having that talk whether you like it or not Petunia or I'll simply show up at the house. Do remember that I know where you live, since I bought the place and gave it to you as a wedding present." Seeing that all Harry was doing was staring at the cookies Manya rolled her eyes at the both of them before addressing the boy while Petunia continued to panic.

"They're meant to be eaten Harry not stared at, you might want to finish them before your Aunt's brain re-engages."

Petunia finally surfaced from her mini-panic attack and finally answered Manya, "Tomorrow at Mario's on Oak Street if that's fine with you... Manya?"

Manya arched an eyebrow at the scarfing (sp?) Harry, making him slow down, before turning to Petunia and nodding, "That's fine, we'll meet around twelve then, oh and Petunia? You _will_ bring Harry along."

Petunia nodded rapidly to Manya in agreement, the only thought on her mind was to remove herself from the woman's presence as quickly as possible, as she grabbed and dragged Harry out the door, not even noticing as Manya flicked two fingers after the retreating duo's backs. Two small winged creatures, unseen by mundane human's eyes, appeared and flew silently after the two, having mentally been given instructions to keep an eye on them and to alert Manya to any trouble concerning Harry. 'To think that… _thing _is a child of John's!'


	3. Chapter 3: A Family Talk

Chapter 3: A Family Talk

Corvinus Manor, Craven

Kent, England

9:00pm BST,

October 14th, 1988:

Manya parked her dark blue 1982 Lamborghini Countach by a black 1986 Lamborghini LM002, slid out of the car and headed into the three hundred year old, slate gray, two story manor house, slamming the right side black oak double door as she entered. Not stopping to turn on the hall lights she stalked down the hallway barely making a sound on the lacquered black oak floors as she headed for the second door on her right were light was spilling out from under the heavy black oak door.

Stalking in to the room Manya let out a soft growl of annoyance, her mind still on young Harry and his aunt Petunia, and flung her leather jacket into a dark oak and tan leather upholstered wingback chair in front of the rooms large fireplace to her right an dropped in to the large chocolate colored leather curved couch directly in front of the fireplace with a huff, dropping her head on to the arm rest in the process and stared at the ceiling.

Hearing a deep masculine voice chuckle from the wingback's twin Manya looked up and scowled at the chair's occupant; a man that looked to be anywhere from thirty to thirty-five with short blue black hair, deep brown nearly black eyes, lightly tanned skin with a faint olive undertone, and was dressed in a black three piece suit with a white silk shirt, over all a very handsome man, was bonelessly lounging in the char with a book open in his lap as he watched her with his lips twitching in suppressed laughter.

"Hello father, I thought that was your car out front… How have you been, why are you here and for how long?" Was asked as she went back to attempting to burn a hole in the rooms vaulted, oak beamed ceiling with her eyes, a feat she was fully capable of is she had truly wanted to.

"I have been fine, I am here on business for the next four weeks and I thought it would be nice to see you and I have no desire to stay in the London flat since it is far too noisy." Shift to better see his eldest as he answered, Manya's father closed his book and silently watched her for a few minutes.

"Now why are you so aggravated this evening?" He asked while listening to her nearly sub-vocal growls, 'Well this shall surely be an… interesting conversation; the last time she was _this_ mad that Nazi officer had shot Gabriel, _now_ that was a pain to clean up.'

"Oh I just found out that Petunia truly is a selfish, ignorant, twit that and she lied to me about the death of a family member."

He frowned in thought as Manya continued to growl, "Petunia? Which one is she, who did she lie about and how?"

Manya grunted and rolled on to her side to watch her father, "Petunia Dursley nee Evans is Lily's elder sister and is, not counting her piggish son and Lily's boy, the last descendant of Markus Evans my youngest child. She told me seven years ago that when Lily and James were murdered that Harry was also killed in the attack, well is just say the boy for the second time to day quite alive and being treated worse than pond scum by the Dursley's if his body language around Petunia is any clue."

"No child should flinch from a close relative like he did today. No child should be dressed in rags we would not have dressed the lowest servant in while his cousin, whom he lives with, dresses in obviously new clothes. No child should mention being beaten on by said cousin or that their Uncle encourages said beatings!"

Her rant finished Manya rolled back over and returned to staring at the ceiling and growling while her father frowned thoughtfully at her, "You are positive this boy is Lily's?"

With an unlady like snort she turned her head towards him, "Yes quite sure seeing how I talked to Petunia today and will be having a much longer talk with her tomorrow, so yes I am _positive_ the boy is Lily's."

He nodded once to Manya, knowing very well that his daughter wasn't one to over react or to get involved with those not family in such matters, and went back to his book commenting, "I will be going with you to your meeting with Petunia then, it seems she is in need of a reminder on how to treat family."

A slightly feral smile slowly formed on Manya's lips at her father's words as she thought on how Petunia would react, 'Oh this shall be _grand_, father may not remember Petunia but I am sure she remembers him; he is quite hard to forget.. I wonder if she'll pass out from the shock? Flighty, self centered, pain in the ass.'

"As you wish father." Was her only comment to his words as she rose and headed for the upper floors of the house.

Mario's, Craven,

Kent, England;

12:00pm BST:

Manya entered the busy Italian restaurant her eyes sliding over the crowd searching for Petunia and Harry. Spotting the two sitting at a corner table Manya and her silent shadow, a taller, older looking, black eyed, male version of herself dressed in a charcoal gray three piece suit, weaved through the crowd. On reaching the table Manya smirked at Petunia rapidly paling features that were coming to resemble a corpse at the sight of Manya's companion, and smiled at Harry's happy smile and little wave.

"Petunia, Harry this is my father Vladislaus Corvinus, father you remember Petunia I'm sure and this is Lily's boy Harry."

"C..c..cousin Vladislaus, nice to see you." was shakily uttered by Petunia as Manya crouched down to easily look Harry in the eyes as Vladislaus only nodded to the nervous woman.

"Now Harry," Manya said as pointed to a nearby empty two person table, "could you please go sit over there with my father while me and your Aunt have a little _talk_?"

Harry carefully eyed the six foot seven, dark haired male and calmly nodded his assent and rose after seeing that the man had the same humor in his eyes that had drawn him to Manya, not realizing that the humor often seen in the two's eyes was a dark humor. 'He can't be too bad or any worse than Manya and I've trusted her so far.' With those thoughts in mind he walked over to the other table without a word with an amused Vladislaus following him.

Manya's lips twitched in amusement as she watched the eight year old lead the five hundred plus year old before sitting in Harry's vacated chair across from the pale Petunia.

"Now I believe the point of this meeting was for you to answer a few questions, so Petunia why don't you start by explaining why I was not told of Harry's survival?"

Petunia shifted unhappily under Manya's stare as she attempted to come up with a valid excuse that Manya would believe; only to falter under her scowl and started to babble.

"The little freak was left on our doorstep with only a note saying that he must stay with a blood relation and some "ward" would protect him and us from the other _freaks._"

Manya waited to answer as a waiter stopped at their table and took their orders, once gone she focused her glare on Petunia once again. "Really? That Does Not explain _why_ you lied to me about the child." Manya was basically growling by the end of her sentence and no longer cared if she scared the useless ninny. "I can clearly see that you and the man you married do not want the boy, so why the Hell did you lie, say he was dead, and not simply give him to me?"

Petunia whimpered in the face of Manya's ire as she answered, "I never told Vernon the truth about the family, if I had informed you of the truth and gave the freak," she flinched at Manya's scowl at the use of that word, "boy, the boy, he would have found out."

Manya did finally growl at the self centered creature in front of her at it's pathetic response, causing Petunia to flinch back. "You self-centered ninny, you did not want your _precious_ Verne to know about _your family_ so you lied and then had the gall to treat the poor child so dismally?"

She leaned back in her chair breathing heavily as she forced down the dual urges to either scream or light Petunia on fire as the waiter returned with their food and drinks. Once he was gone she gave Petunia a venomous glare, not realizing that her normally silver eyes had gained a noticeable red cast, as she leaned forward again, ignoring her food, placed her elbows on the table while interlocking her fingers and staring at the now terrified woman over them.

"You and your husband will be signing over custody of Harry to me immediately as it seems that everything you were taught about how to treat _family_ went in one ear and out the other." Seeing Petunia's faint nod of agreement and ignoring her scowl at the verbal jab on her treatment of Harry she continued, "You have a choice; I take Harry today and you and Verne come to Goldfarb, Tepes and Malfoy in three days time with anything belonging to Harry or his parent's you may have. Or I will come to Privet Drive to gather Harry, his things and bring over the paper work and my lawyer in three days, the choice is yours."

Petunia, having gained some of her color back, paled again at the thought of Manya being anywhere _near_ her home, "Take him to day, please, Vernon and I will bring his things to your solicitor's in three days."

Manya's eyed the woman and nodded in agreement, "That will be fine, you will bring _everything_ of Lily's you have as well, anything your parent's left her but you never gave her, such as the jewelry I gave your mother that she left to Lily that you _still_ have, all of it Petunia; I _will_ know if you do not."

With those last words Manya finish her food, and signaled for the check. Once the check was paid for she rose and walked over to Harry and her father, leaving a trembling Petunia behind. At their table Manya nodded to her father and placed her hand on Harry's shoulder, "Hey short stuff how would you like to come home with me?"

Harry looked as Manya in surprise and joy while Vladislaus flagged down the waitress to pay, "Really, I don't have to go home with Aunt Petunia?"

"Yep, you will be staying with me from now on; that ok with you?"

Harry happily nodded, not quite sure _why_ he was trusting the virtual stranger, family or not, but trusting her anyway and followed Manya out without a backward glance at his Aunt, as Manya informed her father that they would meet him at the car.


	4. Not an Update, Sorry

Sorry not an update, but my computer crashed a while back and I just now got a new one. This has caused a bit of a problem with this story, I lot all of my notes baring the hand written copies of chapters 4,5,6,7 and part of 8. All my notes on where I was going are gone and it's been three years since I posted and I couldn't work on it during that time due to illness, lack of notes and school. So now I have a question for those of you reading this, Do I attempted to do more or do I scrap the story and start on one of my other ideas? Giving me some feedback guys, I'll leave it up til June 12 and if I don't get any feedback by then I'll remove it and go one to one of my other ideas.


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